How to Get Writing Material Copyrighted
- 1). Put your writing in tangible form that may be read directly or via a computer, such as on paper or on a website. You don't have to publish or distribute your work to ensure it's protected. You may put a copyright notice such as "©2011" on your work to show the date of creation, but this isn't a legal declaration until registered.
- 2). Register your work with the U.S. Copyright Office if you want to have the legal facts of your protection on public record. If your copyright is registered, it becomes easier to sue for statutory damages and legal fees should someone steal your work.
- 3). Prepare a nonreturnable copy of your work for submission to the copyright office. This most often consists of a printed hard copy, but it may also consist of electronic files, depending on your submission method.
- 4). Submit your application form with a nonrefundable filing fee, as of August 2011, and the copy of your writing materials, in one of the following three ways:
Use online registration for the fastest processing time at three months, the lowest fees at $35 and online tracking. You may upload your written work as an electronic file or send it in as a hard-copy document. Among the acceptable electronic file formats are HTML, Microsoft Word document or Open XML document, Rich Text Format, PDF, text file or WordPerfect document.
Fill in Form CO online and print it out. The 2-D bar code must be clearly visible on each page of the printed application and free of any smudges, fading or other distortions --- otherwise, your application will be rejected. Mail the entire form to the copyright office with $50. Processing time is 10 months.
Print out Form TX, fill it in by hand and mail it to the copyright office. Note that this is the most expensive filing method at $65. Processing time is also 10 months. - 5). Store the copyright registration certificate in a safe place when you receive it. The effective date of registration is when the copyright office received all of the materials in an acceptable form --- not when it finished processing your application.
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